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Nuggets of Wisdom

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Top 13 Sesame Street Scares (#8)

#8: I-Beam Segment
Personally, I was never scared by this segment. No, not one bit. How could I? To me, it was merely an I-beam being created. Nothing really scary about that, right?

However, upon reading the comments to the YouTube video and reading discussion surrounding it, I learned that this segment was the source of nightmares for many unfortunate young viewers. Heck, this segment messed up children so badly that it inspired them to create devious fan art like this:

Yeah, art like that can only stem from the minds of someone suffering from a serious case of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Again, while I was never scared by it myself, looking back at it now, I can see why this sketch scared many children silly. It's the exact opposite of everything you expect from a Sesame Street sketch. Most others are bright, colorful, and upbeat. This one is dark, foreboding, and dissonant.

The intense dissonant music. The flashes of flame. The bursts of smoke. The overall tone of darkness and bright red. Watching this I-beam being forged is almost like staring into the gates of hell itself. It's almost satanic!

But perhaps the best way to convey how messed up this sketch was is to watch it with some even more messed-up commentary. Take it, Mr. Drew Pickles: